Cardinals take out Cain, win it 14-3

The St. Louis Cardinals took all the fun out of the San Francisco Giants World Series ring ceremony and went on a 14-3 rout.
Apr. 1, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright throws in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during opening day at Chase Field. Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Adam Wainwright‘s pitching combined with a 9-run 4th inning was enough to do it for the Cardinals today. Wainwright was done after 7 innings today. The staff ace struck out 6 and allowed 7 hits. Wainwright gave up 2 runs in the 3rd inning.

Marc Rzepczynski pitched a perfect 8th inning for the Cardinals and even batted for himself in the 9th inning. No need in wasting a pinch hitter with the game already wide open.

The Giants would be shut down for the rest of the ballgame after scoring in the 3rd until Joe Kelly ran into trouble in the bottom of the 9th inning. With two outs in the 9th, the Giants had three consecutive singles by Brandon Belt, Nick Noonan, and Guillermo Quiroz. Quiroz’ single was a line drive that went directly at Kelly. Kelly would go onto finish the game, forcing Andres Torres to fly out to left field.

Matt Holliday and Daniel Descalso had the day off. With Matt Adams at first base and Matt Carpenter covering second base, the Cardinals got off to a slow start but in the 4th inning, they opened things wide open scoring 9 runs on 8 hits. Giants starter Matt Cain didn’t even finish the fourth inning.

Allen Craig got it started in the 4th with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Jon Jay. With bases loaded, Matt Adams would drive in both Carpenter and Carlos Beltran on a ground-rule double. A single by Ty Wigginton on a liner to left would bring in Yadier Molina.

Pet Kozma would have his only hit of the day, a single to the second baseman Marco Scutaro. This would score Matt Adams.

Carpenter came back up with the bases loaded. He singled on a liner to left. Both Wigginton and Kozma would score.

Beltran came back up to hit. He would hit a liner to left, scoring both Jay and Carpenter.

The Cardinals were not done. They would score 5 more runs–two in the eighth, three in the ninth–before the night was through.

The performances of the day easily go to Adam Wainwright, Matt Adams, and Matt Carpenter. Adams and Carpenter combined for 6 hits, 4 runs, and 5 RBI.

The Cardinals return to St. Louis tomorrow for the home opener.